By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 27 -- With an embargo today at 1 pm, Cambridge University Press published at 367 page "Small Arms Survey 2012." Strangely, in the 11 page index there is no entry for "Libya," major conflict of 2011.
Inner City Press went to the promoters' 11 am press conference and asked the promoters about France's air drop of weapons into the Nafusa mountains. They replied that they are still setting up their Libya program.
As a follow up, Inner City Press asked if in Sudan, where they have a program, they could confirm or deny the transport by the Justice & Equality Movement of many of Gaddafi's weapons. They replied that they have NOT been able to document a large number of such weapons.
One wonders, when they get it together, what they'll say of weapons transfers to Syrian rebels by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and others.
Still searching for answers, Inner City Press went to their 1:15 pm, post-embargo event in the UN's North Lawn building. There, Nigerian Ambassador Joy Ogwu spoke to a standing room only crowd, click here for photo on twitter.com/innercitypress
After Ogwu left, a slide showed that France has jumped up the table of exporters, with the US still at the top. Many in the room were also present at the death-by-whimper of the Arms Trade Treaty this summer.
Interestingly, the United Arab Emirates was listed as a large and non-transparent exporter, despite not producing weapons. Not noted was that hand grenades from Switzerland -- the major funder of and ranked as Number One in the Survey -- showed up, through the UAE, in Syria. And so it goes at the UN.
